"Piracy these days on PC is probably less problematic than second-hand sales on the Xbox," says lead Fable III combat designer Mike West. "I've been working on PC games for many years and piracy is always a problem. There are a lot of honest people out there as well, and if they like your game they'll buy it." Thanks joao.

Jerykk wrote on May 18, 2011, 12:32:For all intents and purposes, a second-hand sale has the same result as piracy: people get to play games without giving a penny to the publisher or developer. When you buy a used game, neither the publisher nor the developer see any money from the transaction. When you sell a used game, neither the publisher nor the developer see any money from the transaction. When you pirate a game, neither the publisher nor the developer see any money. While you may use the money saved to buy a new copy of a different game, it doesn't change the fact that the publisher and developer didn't see any money from the game you bought/sold used.

The difference being that somebody who pirated a game may turn around and buy it if they enjoyed it and they find an attractive price point for it. The person buying used found their attractive price point and made their move. In terms of the developer or publisher, they have a better chance of getting revenue from the pirate at some point in the game's life cycle than they do from the person who buys used (which probably explains a lot about the proliferation of post-release DLC on the consoles).